South Africa: reviews from our travellers

"It was amazing, easily one of the best trips we've ever been on.

The fact that we could do it with our small kids made it all the more special, and it was certainly a lot easier than we expected/feared.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

This trip has really made us interested other parts of South Africa as well.

It would be great if you could expand your coverage of the country. Perhaps in 2019 we can help you 'test' some lodges :)" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a South Africa trip

"Timing: November is on the cusp of rain, pretty hot, but still just about dry. I believe it is a relatively quiet month. Some parts of Etosha had seen rain and game viewing was good. Southern Namibia remained bone dry. It is a lovely time to escape the European drear, if you can.

Itinerary: For the wildlife, we wanted Etosha (1 week) and we wanted the Transfrontier Kgalagadi Park (5 days). Previous experience has shown Sabina to be a star at knocking together a sensible itinerary, and she managed it again. There was some difficulty finding accommodation (even in a quiet month) which meant one or two compromises had to be made. It all worked out well. If you haven't been before, it is worth saying that distances are huge and the dirt roads make them feel huger ....but then that all helps to emphasise the emptiness of Africa. It made sense to link our two parks with a visit to Soussevlei. I'm a bit ambivalent about the place. It was worth seeing the endless dunes, but the whole idea of a desert is to have a wilderness, and with only one road, you are not alone. We actually preferred the getting there and away again, 100s of kilometres with vast landscapes, and little sign of humanity (except for fences). The Transfrontier is off the beaten track and just in South Africa. It was very worthwhile (although I'd choose Etosha ahead of it (for its variety)), but there's no obvious attraction to break up the journey returning to Windhoek. Sabina did well to find a couple of comfortable lodges that had game activities on offer.

Practicalities: The journey had no glitches at all. It was so well organised. Even the 'misplaced' car hire voucher was sorted in a few minutes by Expert Africa (via Wilderness Travel). Instructions had all been clearly expressed (for example, what needed to be done to take a hire car into South Africa). We had no issues with petrol, reported in some reviews" Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"We had a lovely time and hope to visit Tanzania, South Africa again and the 2 remaining Ker and Downey lodges.

That’s Shindi and the 1 in the Kalahari.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Got there in the end with feedback....no suggestions- top class.

Lucy was excellent and gave us great options and in the end delivered with her choices and interpreted our expectations well." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"Our trip was excellent. Better than imagined! The itinerary went very smoothly.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We are very happy with Expert Africa and Richard Ball. Would definitely recommend." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"A new area for us but well worth the trip." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"Trip as a whole was great!

In retrospect, I would have not spent four nights at Machaba (or any probably), but as I spent a day there sick I'm glad I didn't have to fly that day as well. I was disappointed in the suggestion of Machaba, since I had specifically said I wanted to avoid the 20-cars-around-one-animal sort of safari. That only occurred around the leopards and the lions, but still... I had raised this concern specifically with Richard and he assured me that the guides would manage it, but there was no way to manage it with so many camps/lodges and individual drivers." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"All the transfers to lodges and airports by Ilios were very good.

The drivers were always on time (in fact early) and very helpful with the luggage." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a South Africa trip

"- we had an amazing time

- saw lots of animals and wild life - safari, whales, penguins

- we had a lot of weather too - fire in Cape Town, snow just outside Cape Town, fog and rain in Kwandwe & Plett, stromy winds in Hermanus, but we also had some sunny days

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

- we like to book with specialist companies, travel agents that are specialist in a region or country

- we very much enjoyed our face to face meeting with Tracy and she put a very nice trip together

- we missed a bit the option of having a day planned out at Plettenberg or Cape Town for example, but we got all the information so that we can plan our days" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a South Africa trip

"Maruska and Expert Africa were terrific. Very knowledgeable and helpful.

After listening to my interests, she recommended camps which we felt covered good variety of environments and experiences. I think starting in Hwange and finishing in the Delta was ideal as our Hwange guide was very educational and the wildlife at Kwara particularly superb. If we ended at Hwange we would have felt 3 nights probably sufficient, though were lucky enough for my son to spot a leopard and see a pride of 14 lions in our last 24 hr.

It was also great to have all the arrangements and transportation taken care of." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"We had a perfect holiday.

The hotels were all very good, the people are lovely and so pleasant. Getting around was very easy.

We absolutely loved South Africa, there is so much to see and do. Cage diving with the sharks, whale watching and the safari where fun.

We will be back." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a South Africa trip